The present disclosure herein relates to semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to semiconductor memory devices and methods of fabricating the same.
Integration density of semiconductor devices has increased as the electronics industry has advanced. Higher integration of semiconductor devices may be a factor in determining product price. For example, as integration density of semiconductor devices increases, product prices of semiconductor devices may decrease. Accordingly, demand for higher integration of semiconductor devices has increased. Because integration density of semiconductor devices may be determined by the area occupied by a unit memory cell, integration density may be influenced by the level of fine pattern forming technology. However, pattern fineness may be limited due to expensive semiconductor equipment and/or difficulties in semiconductor fabrication processes.
Three-dimensional semiconductor memory devices have been proposed for increasing integration density. Production of three-dimensional semiconductor memory devices, however, may be expensive when compared with two-dimensional semiconductor memory devices and may have concerns regarding providing reliable product characteristics.